Summary
- Game Boy classics like Kirby's Dream Land and Pokemon Red defined portable gaming for a generation.
- The Game Boy revolutionized gaming with titles like Zelda: Link's Awakening and Tetris.
- Super Mario Land brought whimsical chaos to Nintendo's handheld console.
The Game Boy wasn’t just a handheld console—it was the pocket-sized revolution that turned car rides, waiting rooms, and school recess into pixelated adventures. And while it had a sprawling library of titles, a handful of them practically lived inside the cartridge slots of every Game Boy in existence.
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Whether passed around at lunch tables or hoarded with AA batteries on long trips, these are the six games everyone knows, even if they never beat them. Some launched franchises, others defined genres, but all of them left a smudge on the inside of a Game Boy screen.
5 Kirby’s Dream Land
This Puffball’s First Adventure Was Everyone’s Gateway Into Platforming
Kirby's Dream Land
- Released
- April 27, 1992
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E
- Developer(s)
- HAL Laboratory
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
- Genre(s)
- Platformer, Adventure, Shooter
For a lot of kids, this was the first time they controlled a hero who could inhale enemies, float endlessly, and spit stars like it was nobody’s business. Kirby’s Dream Land was intentionally designed to be accessible, and it shows—Masahiro Sakurai created it as a way to welcome newcomers into platforming without overwhelming them with speed or precision. The game’s charming simplicity didn’t stop it from becoming a classic.
From the moment the opening theme kicks in to the final showdown with King Dedede, it’s one polished ride. And while later entries gave Kirby his copy abilities, this first one thrived purely on tight level design and that iconic float mechanic. It’s no wonder it became the go-to starter cartridge for younger siblings.
4 The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Somehow, A Dream, A Mystery, And A Giant Egg All Made Sense
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
- Released
- August 6, 1993
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EAD
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Game Boy Color
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
Link’s Awakening took everything people loved about the top-down design of A Link to the Past and crammed it into a cartridge that fit in your pocket. But what set it apart was how weird and wonderful it was. It didn’t take place in Hyrule, there was no Princess Zelda, and yet it felt unmistakably Zelda.
The game leaned into surreal storytelling long before it was trendy, with NPCs referencing being in a dream and side characters pulled from other Nintendo games, including literal Chain Chomps. And that ending? Players who reached the final scene weren’t just putting down a console; they were sitting in silence, trying to make sense of what they’d just felt. It was haunting in the best way.
3 Super Mario Land
When Side-Scrolling Felt Like A Rollercoaster On Four Pixels
Super Mario Land
- Released
- July 31, 1989
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo R&D1
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
At launch, Super Mario Land looked like someone had tried to recreate Super Mario Bros. From memory in a science lab. The physics were off, the Goombas looked different and Mario was suddenly riding in submarines and shooting Easter Island heads. But despite the oddities, it was pure magic in a gray brick.
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Developed by Nintendo R&D1 without Shigeru Miyamoto, it gave players something different, yet unmistakably fun. And since it was a launch title for the Game Boy, practically everyone who owned the console either had a copy or borrowed it at some point. The soundtrack was wildly catchy, the stages were creative, and the final boss wasn’t Bowser but an alien named Tatanga—because why not? It was chaotic, short, and impossible to forget.
2 Pokemon Red
Pick A Starter, Lose Your Weekends
Pokemon Red
- Released
- February 27, 1996
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Game Freak
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, JRPG
You didn’t play Pokemon Red—you lived it. From the first time players were asked to choose between Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur, it became clear that this was no ordinary RPG. What followed was an obsessive journey across Kanto, collecting badges, battling Team Rocket, and finding out what the deal was with that creepy Lavender Town music.
The trading cable became a schoolyard commodity, and the myth of Mew under the truck near the S.S. Anne spread faster than any playground rumor in history. Pokemon Red wasn’t just a game; it was a global movement. And even if players didn’t finish the Pokédex or couldn’t get past Victory Road, chances are they still remember every word of the Poké Rap.
1 Tetris (1989)
The One Cartridge That Came Bundled With Destiny
Tetris (1989)
- Released
- July 31, 1989
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo, Alexey Pajitnov
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Game Boy, Nintendo Entertainment System
- Genre(s)
- Puzzle
This wasn’t just the Game Boy’s killer app—it was the killer app for handheld gaming as a concept. Tetris came packed in with the original Game Boy for a reason. Simple rules, infinite replayability, and just enough tension to make palms sweat. Players were rotating tetrominoes at the airport, in the kitchen, and during every extended bathroom break imaginable.
It was a cultural reset. Even people who didn’t care about games got addicted to its hypnotic loop. And it wasn’t just popular—it was scientifically significant. The “Tetris Effect” became a real psychological phenomenon, with players seeing falling blocks in their sleep. Nintendo’s decision is still considered one of the savviest moves in gaming history, and that 8-bit Russian tune is still bouncing around in millions of heads.
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